New article on being a better manager... via Design Thinking

There is a lot of talk about Design Thinking lately. What is it? It is applying the methods of "thinking like a designer" to problem solving. And it works so well that very legitimate sources of information in the business world are starting to embrace it.

The latest article on the topic is from MIT Sloan Management Review: How to become a better manager... by thinking like a designer. The article covers a variety of topics, from simplicity to experimentation, from effective team size to communications.

One of my favorite quotes in the article is from Nancy Duarte:

"[Managers] rely heavily on data and information to tell the story and miss the opportunity to create context and meaning." (p. 40-41)

People can interpret things very differently, even when it is concrete data. We tend to filter our understanding and interpretation of the world based on our own perspective, values and assumptions. By creating a context around the information and redefining the meaning of it, you can build a persuasive and compelling story - which can result in a shared vision.

Not doing things we know we need to be doing

I need to get on a regular exercise routine. I have great intentions, it's the follow through that is lacking. I know how to do it, I just don't. Why? I'm busy, it seems like it will be a lot of work, I'm kind of tired... for some reason, although I need to do it, I don't.

I've noticed the same thing happening with customer research in product design. We know we need to do it. We know how to do it, at least to some extent. But, we often just don't do it. We skip over the research in understanding the problem and empathizing with customers, we skip over bringing customers into our design process to get feedback and direction on our concepts, we even skip over usability testing and validating that the customers can use the solutions we design to solve their problems. At the end, we release a product and wonder why on earth it doesn't delight our customers.

I decided to tackle my exercise issue head on. I signed up for a publicly visible exercise diary that reported my exercise on my Facebook page. You might ask one of the following three questions:

1. Why on Earth would you want to publish your exercise behaviors on Facebook?
2. How will signing up for a diary tool get you to actually exercise?
3. What does this have to do with design research?

To the first point, it makes me accountable to others. Okay, others aren't really looking over my shoulder, but if I don't track, it will be like a public confession that I didn't exercise again today. If I do, I may occasionally get encouragement from others. By doing this, I get myself to be honest to myself. Frankly, I'm much more likely to do something appropriate if I know I'm being watched.

I'm not alone in this. There is strong evidence that tracking your behavior, or knowing that your behavior is being tracked, can actually change your behavior. The effect of just measuring can get this result. It has been shown to be effective for getting people to eat better, exercise more, study more, and even drive more evenly.

Finally, what does this have to do with design research? The same effect is likely to work. Logging your customer research activities in a publicly visible place (okay, maybe just visible to other employees at your company) will result in more customer research activities. Tracking can help you see how far you've come and recognize the value in the interactions you are having with customers. You might even find that you are able to improve the quality of your interactions based on this information.

If you try this out, let me know how it works.